Beaverton's Westview High Places 2nd At National Science Bowl

(Oregon Public Broadcasting)  A team of students from Westview High School in Beaverton placed second in a national science competition. The event is hosted in Washington, D.C., by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The National Science Bowl brings together thousands of high school students from across the country. They participate in a fast-paced, question-and-answer competition, similar to a quiz show. The students are tested on subjects including math, chemistry and astronomy.

The team of five students from Westview High beat 67 other teams to make it to the finals, but lost to three-time champion Mira Loma High School of Sacramento.

Joel Scruggs, with the Bonneville Power Administration, says teams from Pacific Northwest have regularly performed well against the best schools in the nation.

"It speaks well to kind of grooming the next generation of folks (receive) that will hopefully work in clean tech and energy," Scruggs says. "You know we've got some homegrown talent here in the Northwest and we want to continue to nurture that."

The Beaverton high school team won a five-day guided tour of national parks and $1,000 for their school's science department.